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On Homosexuality and The Penal Code: August Bebel
On Homosexuality and The Penal Code: August Bebel
On Homosexuality and The Penal Code: August Bebel
Translator's Preface
This January marks the 80th anniversary of a landmark in our struggle: the first political speech ever
given for homosexual rights. On 13 January 1898, the leader of the great German Social Democracy,
August Bebel, took the floor of the Reichstag, during a discussion of penal code reform, to argue for a
petition being circulated by the Scientific Humanitarian Committee calling for the repeal of Germany's
sodomy statute, Paragraph 175. The Scientific Humanitarian Committee (wissenschaftlich-humanitäre
Komitée), the world's first activist homosexual rights organization, was itself only nine months old at
the time, having been founded on 15 May 1897 by Magnus Hirschfeld, Max Spohr, and Erich Oberg.
The petition was the main tactic used by the Committee in its efforts to repeal Paragraph 175.
While he may not have been the first politician to support homosexual emancipation — before him we
should at least have to give credit to Napoleon's Chancellor, Cambacérès — Bebel so far as we know
was the first to speak out in public debate.
No ordinary politician, August Bebel was co-founder of the German Social Democracy and was its
foremost representative for more than forty years; he was the political heir of Marx and Engels, and one
of the outstanding figures in the entire history of the working class movement. Under Bebel's
leadership, the German Social Democracy was looked upon as an exemplar and source of inspiration
by socialists all over the world.
Bebel was one of the first four men to sign the Scientific Humanitarian Committee's petition, which
originally was in the form of a manifesto (the other three were Ernst von Wildenbruch, Richard von
Krafft-Ebing, and Franz von Liszt). With the prestige of Bebel and the support of the Social Democracy
behind it, the early homosexual rights activists were at least assured of a hearing, although their main
goal, the repeal of Germany's sodomy statute, was only to be realized seven decades later. The support
of the Social Democracy for the homosexual emancipation movement continued for three and a half
decades — until both movements were destroyed by the triumph of Nazism in 1933. and just as the
socialists were the strongest (almost the only) supporters of homosexual rights, the most zealous
opponents were to be found in the Center Party, the political arm of the Roman Church.
Bebel's speech may seem rather tame, measured by the rhetoric and ideology of the present, but it was
far in advance of the time, which was still under the pall of Victorianism. It is clear from the
commotions and interruptions indicated on the record that Bebel's remarks were thoroughly shocking to
the ears of his colleagues.
A few days later, a Pastor Schall felt obliged to state his opposition to the Scientific Humanitarian
Committee's petition from the perspective of Christianity. He argued that the Apostle Paul, in his letter
to the Romans, had treated the vice favored by the petition as one of the most heinous sins of the old
paganism, and said he was totally unable to comprehend why so many famous people had signed the
petition. The following comment by Pastor Schall is quite revealing: "I must admit having been
profoundly shocked by these remarks of Herr Bebel — they has somehow upset me and thrown me into
a deep depression."
One thing Bebel's colleagues found hard to believe, was his portrayal of the prevalence and
extensiveness of homosexual activity. In 1907, Bebel, then elderly and ailing, recalled the incredulity
some Reichstag members had expressed nine years before over his estimates as to the great numbers of
homosexuals, and how he had been accused of exaggeration. In retrospect, Bebel maintained, he had
not exaggerated — if anything he may have estimated too few! In light of the Kinsey findings, inter
alia, Bebel was right: his 1898 estimates were far too conservative. However, for historical perspective,
we should remember that the first great pioneer for homosexual rights, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (1825-
1895) had estimated that only 0.002% of the German population was homosexual, and many felt this
estimate was too high. Also, at the time of the Oscar Wilde trial, there were otherwise informed men
who believed that there could not possibly be more than a couple of dozen sodomites in the city of
London.
The following is a translation from the stenographic record of the Reichstag proceedings: